Sherburne History Center Blog

Submitted Article by: Rebecca Rittenour In the 1970s, I spent a lot of time playing in the Baldwin Cemetery as did many kids from the area. It was a convenient meet-up point, at the nexus of two county roads, and a pile of bikes at the gate was a common sight. Resting between games of tag or statue, we would sprawl among the gravestones and share our young observations on life, the world, and the afterworld. Sitting under the lilacs that were once scattered between headstones, my brother Jay once remarked, “Imagine what it was like way back then during Civil War times, and you’re a farmer with a kid at war. You’re working in the yard or in the field, and you hear the clopping of horses and wagon wheels on gravel coming down the road.” He pointed south, and we peered down County Road 19, seeing it as it was a hundred years earlier, dirt and dust kicking up around the hooves and wheels. “You don’t recognize the horses or the wagon, and as it gets closer, you can tell there’s a long wood...

  In reviewing the history of Sherburne County, significant attention is given to the agriculture industry, or to transportation, specifically the railroads. An area of the economy in Sherburne County that receives very little attention, an area that warrants greater attention, is the hospitality industry. From the beginning of the county to today, hotels and hospitality played a significant role in the county.   Starting with Brown’s Hotel in Big Lake and continuing with the Riverside House and the Blanchett Hotel in Elk River.   Also, we need to note the inn at Bailey Station in the 1870s.   All of these establishments played a significant role in the economic history of Sherburne County.               Brown’s Hotel in Big Lake marks the beginning of hospitality industry.   Before the county was created, Joseph Brown advertised in the Sauk Rapids newspaper, promoting Big Lake as a stopping off point...

  While researching a general topic of education in Sherburne County, a greater understanding of the architecture of schoolhouses emerged.   By this I suggest that searching for details of the large, brick, near-monumental schools in Sherburne County reveals an interesting pattern.   The best known of the large schools in Sherburne County resides in Elk River.   In 1883, fire destroyed the Elk River school.   A fire resistant, brick building replaced the destroyed structure.   A two-story edifice, a school for all grades opened its doors.   This building is the first of the large, semi-permanent edifices that pre-dates education reform and expands the possibilities for education in Sherburne County.   First brick schoolhouse in Elk River pre-1900 The first graduating class of this new Elk River school matriculated in 1888.   Eleven years later, in 1899 the state of Minnesota advanced education in Sherburne County.   That year, the Sc...

  Halloween arrives in just a few days.   It seems appropriate to explore the symbolism in death.   Cemeteries contain an abundance of symbols in the grave markers, plants, and architecture.   Understanding the meaning of a few of these symbols might give us a greater appreciation of the planning and design of cemeteries and the communities surrounding these resting places. Entryway of Becker Cemetery, Becker, MN.   Look closely, hidden by the evergreens, is  the arched entryway to the cemetery It seems as though everything in a cemetery contains some symbolic meaning.   The shape of the entryways to many burial grounds represent the gates of heaven.   Many cemeteries have pine trees and other evergreens to remind us of the concept of eternal life.   And the headstones often resemble bed stands to suggest eternal rest.   We haven’t even looked at the headstones, yet the cemeteries overflow with symbolism and, seeming, prayers f...

This week marks the thirtieth anniversary of the Halloween Blizzard of 1991.   Memorable to the history of Minnesota and, to a lesser degree, Sherburne County.   We have witnessed Mother Nature and her ability to inflict significant turmoil in our lives, with blizzards, flooding, tornadoes, and other catastrophic events.   Transportation by any means possible during the  1991 Halloween Blizzard.  photo courtesy of Elk  River Star News collection The Halloween Blizzard is one of these events that inflicted significant challenges into the lives of Minnesotans.   Like the Armistice Day Blizzard of 1940, the Halloween Blizzard started as an innocent snowstorm.   Suddenly it erupted into something so much greater.   Record snow fell in 1991.   In a 24-hour period, Duluth recorded more than 24 inches of snow.   Sherburne County recorded an estimated 16 inches.   The Elk River Star News also reported snow drifts as high as fifteen f...

The letters from George Bostrom to his sister document the events of World War One in interesting detail. Only after the war is over, he writes about seeing action in the Argonne Forest. More importantly, in the chronolo0gical order of his letters, he describes his seven days of leave in December 1918. He provides an interesting contrast between life on the front lines versus the luxury hotel he stays in Chambray, France.  I am having just a dandy time at present , he wrote. Have been over here long enough to be granted a seven day pass and here I am at Chambray to enjoy it. And I sure am enjoying it. After being in the lines for nearly a month of real hardships. Laying in shell holes and digin’s, what we call them, lots of times wet thru and thru and cold and then sent to a place like this with every comfort you can think of.    He went on to describe the luxuries of the ever-present Y.M.C.A. The Y.M.C.A I must tell you about. There’s a Y. here in a very large bu...

  Recently, it occurred to me, this blog heaped a great deal of attention on athletics in Elk River.   Unfortunately, the attention focused on men’s sports, specifically football and basketball.   It is time to shift the focus and give attention to women in sports in Sherburne County. Elk River Women's team, 1921 As early as 1921, several schools in and around Elk River offered Women’s Basketball to the female students.   Based upon the writing in the Elk River yearbook the women of Elk River presented a relatively new sport to the student body. The description of the Elk River team noted “inexperienced” players for the team.   In addition, the yearbooks writers reported “a lack of a suitable place in which to practice.”   In spite of these shortcomings, the Elk River team posted a 2 and 3 record, facing Anoka, Princeton, Buffalo, and Monticello.   The women of Elk River continued to build on their experience.   Women’s Basketball became a reg...

  Football season is upon us.   It seemed very appropriate to note the great history of Football in Sherburne County.   Sherburne county athletes played organized games of football for 130 years.   According to “A Century of Pride The History of Elk River Football,” the first game reported in the local news witnessed Elk River defeating a team from Monticello by a score of 29 to zero.   Since then, Sherburne County presented a number of notable games.   Here are two seasons of Elk River High School football players, 1914 and 1927.   Note, 1927 saw a championship season, with the Elk River team recording a record of 5-1-1.    Later, Big Lake and Becker presented outstanding teams.   The Big Lake team from 1967 presented below. Elk River 1914 Elk River Championship Team 1927                          Big Lake 1967

  With the coming of the twentieth anniversary of the attack on the Twin Towers, 9/11, it may be appropriate to take some time and think about the events of that day.   Where were you when the towers were attacked?   Let’s think about the 3,000 people killed that day, and the 6,000 injured.   Remember, the attacks also hit the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. and a fourth plane crashed in Pennsylvania. This week, every memorial ought to serve as a  reminder of what happened on 11 September 2001 This day is perhaps the single most important event of a generation.   Maybe we can take the events of that day, and the days immediately following, to become more sympathetic, more empathetic, more generous individuals.   Let’s emulate the good from the people that suffered that day. Remember them for the kindness and courage they showed us.   Learn from them and become better individuals. Let’s take some time and think: Where were you when the towers were...

A few weeks ago, we shared a few lines of letters from Pvt. George Bostrom to his sister.  Bostrom, originally from Elk River, served in the American Expeditionary Force in France during World War One.  Here is a second portion of a letter in 1918 sharing conditions in France in the last days of the war: Well Sister, I’m in the lines again and have been for some time.  I think we will move soon, possibly little further to the front because we are kind of in reserve here although we aren’t so very far from the front. Suits me alright tho because back here we would be an excellent target for the (Germans) if they had a mind to open up their big guns on us.  There has been some of their medium sized shells come our way at different times.  The other night they sent ove3r a few that made us wonder if they really had come with our names marked on them but I guess they must have misspelled them.  I shouldn’t joke that way.  It hurts me when I hear others t...

With the coming harvest season, I am reminded of the practices for preserving food during World War Two.  In 1943, with the war going full blast, every family tried to raise food in their own “victory gardens.”  The produce of these gardens seemed so abundant questions developed on how to best preserve the extra food.  In Elk River a unique program developed to provide canning services to any family in need of the service.  In June 1943, the Elk River newspaper announced the high school acquired a canning unit capable of processing 500 quarts per day.  With the aid of supervisors, anyone needing access to the canning unit might preserve any food grown in their victory gardens.  The unit canned in glass or tin cans.  If the family used tin cans, they would be charged two cents per can. “All are welcome to come in and can,” School Superintendent Robert Handke said.  He anticipated high demand for the unit, he encouraged residents to contact the ...

  The current weather conditions, drought, high heat, and lack or water reminds me of recent research into Sherburne County during the 1930s.   A time of worse weather conditions permeated throughout the county. Farming in Orrock Township after the difficult weather of the 1930s.  Notice the thick layer of sand sitting above the darker soil. In the years 1933 and 1934, the county suffered a major drought.   Farmers remembered the time as a “dust bowl.”   Some residents of Sherburne County remember this time as an end to farming in some areas of the county.   “The light, worn out soils took to the air and drifted like snow over the roads and onto front porches,” is the way historian Herb Murphy described it.   Some folklore of the times described Orrock Township as the “poison ivy capital of the world.”   Other tall tales suggested that “jack rabbits, when passing through Orrock Township, had to pack a lunch because there was nothing to eat.” ...

  Section of a letter written by H. C. Byson to his daughter Dawn with exciting details about POWs sighted in Elk River. Prisoners of War in Minnesota during World War Two often worked the lumber mills and the farms in the northern and central parts of the state.   Although not often seen in Sherburne County, POWs worked the potato harvest in Princeton in 1943, and possibly again in 1944.   At times, residents of Elk River and eastern Sherburne County witnessed these POWs being transported or working the potato fields. The casual sighting of POWs in Elk River, like other small towns in Minnesota, generated a certain amount of excitement witnessed in family letters such as the letter from H. C. Byson to his daughter Dawn Byson (later Moyer), in the summer of 1944.   Byson wrote to his daughter: Bruce came home this morning from downtown with those expressive eyes of his telling us an exciting story.   He and several other people watched German prisoners eat ...

  An interesting collection arrived at the Sherburne History Center in recent weeks.   A wonderful collection of letters from George Bostrom to his family members living here in Sherburne County.   Particularly interesting, the bulk these letters came from France during World War One.   George’s letters document the different training camps and finally his stations “somewhere in France”.   The letters begin in 1918 and continue through 1920.   In letters to his family George documents everything from experiencing bombings at the front, to the price of chocolate.   Also interesting, he provides the exchange rate from American dollars to French francs.   From his letters we know, a 12-ounce chocolate bars cost anywhere from thirty cents to sixty cents. Letterhead from the Knights of Columbus.   George Bostrom used this, as well as letterhead  provided by the YMCA, to write letters home In a letter written the day before the Armistic...

  This week is county fair week.   Give or take a few years, we need to note the 132 years of the annual meeting.   Each year, an opportunity presents itself for county farmers and future farmer to gather and share ideas for improved farming.   This gathering also gives them all an opportunity for bragging rights for their own farming prowess. An early fair exhibit in Meadowvale, circa 1900 So, we need to look back at the first meeting of county farmers at the fairs held in Meadowvale.   Starting in 1889, framers would meet for one day in November with the harvest complete and time to explore new ideas and techniques. Then, starting in 1915, the fair moved into Elk River.   First at a location near the corner of today’s Jackson Street and Highway 10.   Later, the fair site moved to land bordering the Mississippi River.   Finally, in 1957, the fair located to the present site on Joplin Street on the western outskirts of Elk River.   The le...

  With the Fourth of July weekend upon us, local historians inevitably ask: how did we celebrate so many years ago?   Has it always been loud fireworks and excessive drink?   The answer to these questions remains a definitive yes and no.   Depending on the year and the location, the fourth of July celebration in Sherburne County has been both loud and raucous, and other times silent and sedate.   Veteran's Memorial at Sherburne History Center Using newspapers as the source, in the decade of the 1890s, often town baseball remained the highlight of a July Fourth celebration.   The newspapers routinely reported of tournaments pitting Elk River nines against Rogers, Monticello, or other local teams.   With the end of nine innings a watermelon feast marked the culmination of the celebration.   During the decade, livelier celebrations also took place.   In 1893, the newspapers advertised river excursions on the Mississippi River.   The ste...

Occasionally, we recognize veterans and their actions during the wars of the 20 th century.  The actions of Jack Bade, Frances Beck, and Charlie Brown have all been documented on these blog pages.  We need to expand the borders of Sherburne County to acknowledge the bravery of another young man from central Minnesota.   Loading Bombs during WW II In 1943, Malcom H Trombley, from Rogers, served in the United State Army.  As a private, he worked as part of an armament crew.  The crew loaded bombs into planes in the China-Burma-India theatre of World War Two.    The newspapers noted his bravery in service when he rescued his entire loading crew from near disaster.  According to the newspaper reports, a crew member noticed a burning fuse on a bomb as the crew loaded it into a plane.  The entire crew ran for cover, fully expecting to die in coming second.  Trombley bravely removed the fuse from the bomb and threw it in the air just ...

  Just a sampling of advertising ballpoint pens  in the SHC collections This past week we failed to recognize National Ballpoint Pen Day (June 10).   In an effort to rectify this gross oversight, today we note the significance of this significant invention and the impact on local history. Patented in 1888 in Argentina, the ballpoint pen slowly spread throughout the world.   On June 10, 1943, the international patent was filed with the United States Patent Office.   Today the ballpoint pen sells more than 57 pens per second throughout the world.   It is also the most widely used writing instrument in the world.   It’s design simply puts a steel ball at the tip of a tube of ink.   The rolling steel ball regulates the flow of ink for an even application to paper. An ingenious design, the inventors and early marketers overlooked a valuable sidelight of the pen as a marketing tool.   Today, a multitude of pens carry advertising for businesses ...

I just now posted on facebook a photo to commemorate National Donut Day.   Although the day sounds like a frivolous marketing tool for the baking industry, in reality it does have a serious, memorable component.   The celebration began in Chicago in 1938 to honor the members of the Salvation Army, particularly, women that handed out donuts to soldiers during World War One. The Salvation Army also hoped to use the day as a fundraiser to help people in need caused by the crisis of the Depression.   The celebration continues on the first Friday in June.   So, with that in mind, we want to honor NATIONAL DONUT DAY!   Here is a photo of one of the more famous of Sherburne County Bakers: Bake Anderson in his shop in Elk River.